The tastiest fluffy Sweet Potato Pancakes for baby! Egg free and a great healthy breakfast for baby led weaning. See notes for how to prepare them for adults.
I'm so super duper excited to kick off the baby and toddler recipes with these splendid sweet potato pancakes because HOW CUTE ARE THESE?
Just like my Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins and Baby Banana Oat Muffins, they come together in no time, freeze beautifully, and are great for baby led weaning.
Bonus points for being mom and dad approved, too!
Ingredients
- Sweet potato: Max's fave food right here...packed with beta carotene and loaded with flavor!
- Whole wheat flour: A great source of fiber! This also helps bind the pancakes together. You can use all purpose flour or all purpose 1:1 gluten free baking flour. Steer clear of almond or coconut flour as they won't work here.
- Flax: A sub for egg to bind the pancakes and for healthy fats. I loving using flax in my Baby Zucchini Muffins, too!
- Oil: For moisture and fat. Avocado, coconut, olive and canola all work.
- Cinnamon: For yummy flavor.
- Milk: For moisture to form a batter. Any milk works.
- Baking powder: Because baby's deserve fluffy pancakes, too! You'll notice no salt because babies' kidneys aren't developed enough to handle salt until after one year of age. (It's pretty impossible to omit, but I keep it in moderation.)
How to make baby pancakes
- Roast a sweet potato. Peel and mash and set aside to cool.
- Add to a mixing bowl with whole wheat flour, flax, baking powder, cinnamon, milk and oil to form a thick batter. Stir.
- Drop tablespoons of dough onto skillet to make mini pancakes. Serve to baby!
When can baby eat pancakes?
Baby can enjoy pancakes from 6 months of age (or when showing signs of readiness, like sitting up unassisted) and beyond! In the beginning couple months, I cut pancakes into long strips for him to grab.
Around 8 months when he developed the pincer grasp, I cut them into small pieces that he could pick up.
These are great for baby led weaning (BLW), which means offering baby finger foods versus solely purees to encourage independent, interactive eating and development of fine motor skills.
BLW teaches babies to listen to their hunger and fullness cues. Research suggests that introducing lots of flavors and textures early on makes baby more likely to accept these foods later in life!
How to roast a sweet potato
Pro tip: roast a couple sweet potatoes on Sunday to enjoy as is, throwing in Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers or Sweet Potato Brownies, and beyond.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Pierce a sweet potato (or a few) several times with a fork.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until very fork tender.
- Allow potato to cool. Peel and use per the recipe.
What to serve with baby pancakes
- full fat yogurt with cinnamon
- banana
- a smear or nut or sunflower seed butter
- smushed berries
Storage
Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze for up to 3 months and pop in the toaster from frozen!
Interested in seeing more baby food recipes? Let me know in the comments!
PrintSweet Potato Pancakes Recipe (Baby Approved + Egg Free!)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 mini pancakes 1x
- Category: Baby & Toddler
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The tastiest fluffy Sweet Potato Pancakes for baby! Egg free and a great healthy breakfast for baby led weaning. See notes for how to prepare them for adults. Recipe can easily be doubled.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup roasted sweet potato
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp oil (I used avocado oil)
- 2 tbsp milk of choice (whole, soy, oat etc)
Instructions
- Place cooled sweet potato in a medium mixing bowl and mash with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. The batter is VERY thick, which helps these cook through.
- Heat a large skillet with cooking spray over medium low heat. Once hot, wet a tablespoon measure and scoop out a heaping tablespoon of batter at a time to form mini pancakes. Flatten with wet fingers to help them spread.
- Cook for about 2 minutes per side, flipping once pancake is set and golden brown. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Slice into strips or cut into pieces for babies who have the pincer grasp (8+ months). Serve with flattened blueberries, a thin smear of nut butter, etc!
Notes
HOW TO ROAST SWEET POTATO: Preheat oven to 400F. Pierce sweet potato several times with a fork. Place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until very fork tender. Allow potato to cool. Peel and use per the recipe.
If you cook sweet potato in the microwave instead, you may need to add 1-2 tbsp more milk as it won't be as moist. Note that microwaved sweet potatoes are less sweet and flavorful than roasted.
ADULT VERSION: For toddlers or adults, feel free to add ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp sweetener to the batter.
Kelly says
Love the recipe! Do you think the same recipe can be used to make pumpkin pancake if I swap out the sweet potato for pumpkin?
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
So glad! No—sweet potato is naturally pretty sweet whereas pumpkin has no sweetness. They wouldn’t taste very good without adding some sweetener!
Elle says
These are calling to me!! Ordering sweet potato now 🙂
Alexis Joseph says
Eeeeee!!
Nikki F says
Both my baby and my husband loves these! And so did I! Perfectly sweet without any sugar at all This comment was left by a close supporter of Alexis Joseph, owner operator of Hummusapien LLC
Alexis Joseph says
Yayyy thanks Nikki!
Katie says
About to start BLW and would LOVE to see more recipes like this! ❤️ Looks awesome!
Alexis Joseph says
Yayyy so glad you're excited about them!!
Valerie says
Absolutely love these and so easily adapted for adults, too!! Love the new recipe series you’re kicking off - and how you show combining prep for things like this recipe with the burgers at the same time. Makes it so easy to prep some of this stuff in big batches and feed those little (and big!) ones so well. 🙂 Can’t wait to see more of these!! ❤️ This comment was left by a close supporter of Alexis Joseph, owner operator of Hummusapien LLC
Alexis Joseph says
Awww you're the best, thanks so much Valerie!! Let's have a virtual burger night 🙂